Use broth (chicken or beef) as substitute for the liquid. The ends of green onions, finely chopped also add a nice flavor to the rice. Adding frozen peas can offer another variation, if you like that vegetable.

Before or after cooking? Before cooking, you can use different flavored broths to cook the rice instead of water. You can also dice up left-over chicken, pork or beef into TINY pieces and stir that in with the rice. I love to add soy sauce to everything, but that would be AFTER cooking.